Symbiosis
by lrigD
Summary: A short one-shot taking place right at the end of the episode The Dead of Winter, where a case takes Lewis and Hathaway to the place Hathaway grew up.


**_I just saw the episode 'The Dead of Winter', the one which takes place at the estate James Hathaway grew up at. I loved the episode. Hathaway is an interesting character and I love the parts where the writers elaborate on that, and the fact that they always leave you wondering just a little bit more._**

**_Naturally, this one-shot contains spoilers for that episode! Now, enjoy and please review!  
><em>**

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><p>They stood side by side, looking out over the Crevecoeur estate.<p>

He'd spent his first years here. He'd lived among these people, the rich, royal top of British society, and he'd felt at home here.

His father had disapproved. His father had always held a certain disdain for the rich, feeling that their lives were missing a component because they'd never had to work. He'd been of the opinion that work made you a man, and he certainly hadn't hesitated putting James to work. Still, he'd lived around the Mortmaigne family enough to appreciate some of their cultural values. Their knowledge was impressive, and he'd always found a sense of calm in the rigid rules of upperclass society. It was a reliable pattern, something to hold on to when he had experienced the lesser sides of life.

Scarlett had been his first love, really. He knew that at that age, love is hardly a reality, but even as a child he'd appreciated that girl, who was to him the perfect combination of attractive upperclass and sufficiently child-like to have a good time with.  
>He'd thought about her often, after they'd left. He wondered what had happened to her, wondered if she would turn away from her upbringing. She had always shown a certain dislike of the stiff relations of her family, the pretense, the feeling of haughtiness. Where James had seen a reliable framework, Scarlett had seen that same framework as prison bars.<p>

And she hadn't escaped. James had to wonder at the irony of the moment. How the girl he'd so often wanted to see again had, when they'd finally got together, turned out to be somebody to put behind bars. _Yet more bars_.

She'd asked him if he was lonely, and he'd somewhat evaded the question. He didn't know the answer. There wasn't a simple answer, either. Being without a partner made him lonely sometimes, yes. But at the same time, he had a patchwork of people he knew he could always rely on. One of them was standing beside him right now. Could a man truly call himself lonely in that case?

His thoughts were jumbled, disjointed; jumping from Scarlett to Lewis, Briony to his father. But through it, the man beside him remained standing. Not saying a word, allowing him to order his thoughts into a solid base.

Finally, he turned to the other man.

"Fancy a beer?"

It was his way of apologizing and thanking at the same time, and he knew Lewis understood that the moment he nodded yes.

And hours later, when he did enter his house alone, after a rough few days, he didn't feel quite so lonely.

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><p><strong><em>This has nothing to do with Lewis, but I have a question for all visitors. Lately (the past month or so), whenever I search for stories in different domains, I only see a few seconds of that page before the site jumps to some kind of page containing all sorts of links about pain and pain management. It's not just an ad where you can click to the next page in the upper right corner. Does anybody else have this problem? The site's mobile version works fine, and because of the fact that it keeps jumping to that pain management site I cannot find an email address to send an email to the managers (is that the word) of the site. I only managed to get into my personal account by clicking very quickly, although once I'm logged on to the private part of the site I have no problem with the ad.<br>I was wondering if anybody else had this problem, because it's really, really annoying! And it can't just be me, right?_**

**_Also, please tell me what you thought of the story! Or Lewis in general :). _**


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